


Time

by carvedwhalebones (fuckyeahlucifersupernatural)



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 18:53:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14243628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuckyeahlucifersupernatural/pseuds/carvedwhalebones
Summary: Corvo uses the timepiece to go back and make things right.





	Time

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt:I had an idea for a dh time travel fic. Maybe in the mansion with the time travel, whoever the protagonist is at the time (corvo or emily) finds and does something ;);) with someone in the past.

_Trial #14_

Corvo had his hand on the small of Jessamine’s back, pushing her in the direction of the nearest door. Emily was held in his arms, ignoring her. Jessamine was rigid, but followed the brisk pace set, eyes darting back towards him and Emily. “Corvo, please. What is going on — ?”

His hand jerked away from her back, a hot sensation dragging across the side of his hand and thumb. Jessamine’s pace was at an abrupt halt and Emily choked somewhere near his ear, small hands digging at his jacket. Her cry came soon after. There is a blade lodged through the middle of Jessamine’s back, body crumpling onto the graveled pathway. 

Corvo did not reach for Jessamine, but for the disfigured device in his pocket. It ticked quietly, three miniature clocks wedged near the base of the device and moved with no coordination. Three glass lens lifted from the device as Corvo haphazardly attempted to push at one of the hands of the clocks. Emily squirmed in his grip, shrieking at whatever was approaching from behind. He squeezed the device and Emily fell into silence. 

_Trial #23_

The moment the timepiece was set in his hands, his thoughts were not of the secret that took place in Stilton’s Manor. Corvo thought of home and the very moment that took place on the gazebo. If he was only fast enough. Powerful enough. Clever enough. This timepiece was a way of righting a moment that would push Dunwall over the brink. 

So Corvo left the Stilton Manor and returned to Dunwall. 

He learned to decline Emily’s pleading for a game of hide-and-seek. More time is wasted with the game. He learned to insist on Jessamine to read the letter indoors. The closer they are to the inside of the Tower, the more uncoordinated Daud’s assassins are. 

This time, he had Jessamine carry Emily as he covered their rear, sword at the ready. Daud appeared ten feet before them, face contorted in frustration. Corvo was too late to step before them as Daud revealed the wrist bow underneath his sleeve. A soft grunt left Jessamine and both mother and daughter fall onto the floor. 

Corvo hastily reached for the timepiece. 

_Trial #49_

Emily caught the brunt of Daud’s attack, but Jessamine was alive. Corvo counted the steps it took for Daud to make the lunge. Jessamine curled herself around Emily, calling for him. 

Corvo grabbed the timepiece — 

“Do you ever have that one memory where you can never quite remember if it truly took place or if it was made up by you?” 

The Outsider was perched on a suspended chair, Dunwall Tower frozen in time and parts of its environment thrown across a canvas of grays and blues. The hands on the timepiece remained still; the ticking of the artifact silenced.

“But each time you revisit the memory, you find it a bit sweeter or a bit worse for wear? You may even remember a new part of the memory…a line…a touch… Or find the memory faded.”

The Outsider moved closer, hands folded behind his back, peering down at the timepiece. 

“Be careful, Corvo.” 

_Trial #61_

Corvo hid Emily. He ushered her into the Tower and to his quarters. The Tower was thrown into chaos fifteen minutes into their unscripted wait. An alarm was sounded off, but Daud’s men never step inside. Emily was safe and spared from a storyline of being kidnapped by the assassins. 

It took ten minutes longer for guards to enter his quarters, Burrows behind them, lips curled into a sneer. 

“Arrest him for negligence! For conspiracy! Why were you not by the Empress’ side? Did you not return from your trip an hour ago and must report to her?” he spouted, a finger jabbed in his direction. 

Corvo reached for the timepiece. 

_Trial #64_

Corvo returned to the present to find Dunwall Tower in shambles. A putrid scent filled the air. Vermin — living and dead — covered the royal grounds, pushing through garbage and bodies with their noses. 

He moved away from the gazebo, catching the sight of light from below. Dunwall was on fire. Buildings smoldered from afar, the rest of the city thrown into pitch black.

The Outsider manifested from the collected darkness and settled beside the Lord Protector. 

“You must know by now that you are changing the story. Every hair pushed out of place, new dialogue, and action opens up a new storyline.”

Corvo only swallowed, jaw tight. 

“I can’t ever save her, can I.” It was hardly a question, his words nothing more than a quiet exhale. “Even if I tried, Emily would be worse for wear or Dunwall…” A hand limply gestured to the scene before them. 

“My dear Corvo,” The Outsider began, “you can only determine your own choices, not that of others… Even if you found a way to step further backward into time and convince Daud of his folly, just the meeting of you both would change the narrative…perhaps for the better…perhaps for the worse.” 

Corvo stayed silent. He, finally, went for the timepiece.

“Just one more time.” 

_Trial #65_

Jessamine was curled on the borrowed cushions in their hidden nook within the Tower. Her hair was undone and dressed in her nightgown, a smile curled on her lips. They did this every other weekend — sneak off in the dead of night to see the other and share a glass of whiskey or warm bottles of beer. That day it was whiskey and Jessamine was expertly pouring it into the glasses on the floor. 

It was an uneventful moment that he always clung to and one he could not imagine altering in any way. He knows the script and blocking by heart, unwilling to deviate.

“Here you go,” she gestured and Corvo was quick to join her side. She held her glass out, her smile, now, a grin. “Here is to…” she trailed off, face searching for something. 

“To this?” Corvo suggested. Jessamine gave an approving sound and held her glass closer to Corvo’s. 

“Here is to this,” she continued, gentler, “and for many more nights like this.”

Their glasses clinked. 

They drank their whiskey in silence, watching the moonlight cast shadows across the walls. Corvo shifted closer, until their arms pressed against the other. A content sigh left her and her head rested on his shoulder. 

“These are my favorite moments with you.” He cheated. This was not in the script and his gut twisted at what may transpire. Jessamine responded by sneaking an arm around his, pulled tight against her side. Lips pressed against his jaw and lingered. 

“Mine, too.”


End file.
